Creating A Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. And still I rise, Madam Speaker. And I rise today reminded that Dr. King addressed this very issue decades ago. He addressed it when he shared his poem with us:

Fleecy locks and black complexion cannot forfeit nature's claim. Though skin may differ, affection dwells in black and white the same. And were I so tall as to reach the pole or to grasp the ocean at a span, I must be measured by my soul because the mind is the standard of the man and woman.

I have lived enough now, at 74 years, to have seen a time when Black people would bleach their skin. The product was called Bleach and Glow, so that they could be as white as they could get.

I have lived long enough to see them process their hair so that they could make it as straight as they could get it.

I have lived long enough now, however, to see Black people having decided that they are going to be themselves; they are going to wear their hair as they chose; and they are not going to allow themselves to be discriminated against because of it.

I have lived long enough, now, to understand that it is not the color of skin or the texture of hair; it is the character within that determines the worth of men and women.

I have lived long enough to understand that Black people are American people, too. And when you say the American people don't want it, you cannot exclude Black people. Black people would have this be on the floor. This is a kitchen-table issue in Black households because when Johnny comes home and he has been fired because of his hair, that is a kitchen-table issue. That is unemployment. That impacts unemployment.

So we have a duty and obligation to do what we are doing with the understanding that we are going to be ourselves.

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